Eggless No-bake Blueberry Cheesecake

If you have been looking for an eggless cheesecake recipe, you can heave a huge sigh of relief. Why? Simply b’cos your quest has just ended. Right here. Right now. What’s more, it’s a no-bake cheesecake to boot. This is something I put together sometime back. Every once in a while, I get into ‘recipe development mode’ and this is one of the recent successful experiments churned out from my bubbling lab. If you’re having someone over, this makes for a perfect make-ahead dessert. Assemble. Allow to set. Forget all about it, atleast until it’s time for dessert. Want to know the icing on the cake? It takes less than 30 minutes to put it all together. Now, isn’t that reason enough to make it asap as possible (no, that’s not a typo; that’s twice as fast as ‘asap’!!)

Set curd – 800 ml, hung overnight in the refrigerator (I used 2 packs of Nestle set curd)

Whipping cream – 200 ml

Blueberry Crush/Blueberry sauce – 1/3 cup (refer note)

Icing Sugar – 1/4 cup

Blueberry Emulsion (optional) – 1 tsp (just to get that nice colour for the filling)

Gelatin – 2 tbsps

Water – 1/4 cup

Vanilla extract – 1 tsp

Note: 1) I used bottled blueberry crush. If using fresh blueberries, I would suggest making a blueberries sauce a little ahead of time. Take a big handful of blueberries, 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of sugar in a pan. Cook together on a medium flame till the berries burst and turn slightly mushy. They will come together as a nice saucy concoction after a few minutes. Remove from flame and set aside to cool.

2) Some people don’t like using gelatin. If you’re one of them, you could use china-grass/ agar-agar in place of gelatin. Personally I haven’t tried working with agar-agar yet. If you do, please come back and tell me how it turned out for you.

Procedure

Put the biscuits in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling-pin. This is where you can take out your frustration on that poor bag of biscuits. Beat them up all you like; they’re not going to complain.

Mix in the melted butter and press mixture onto the base of a greased 9-inch spring-form pan (I used my loose-bottomed 9-inch fluted pie-pan). I like my biscuit case to extend even to the sides of the pan. That way, it makes a perfect ‘casing’ for the filling.

Once you’ve pressed the mixture onto the pan, use the back of a spoon or a spatula and give the biscuit case a little coaxing in firm yet gentle motions so it sits in well.

Set aside in the freezer to set, about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle the gelatin on 1/4 cup water and leave in another bowl of hot water (not mentioned in ingredients) till it melts and becomes a clear liquid, about 5-6 minutes. Keep stirring the gelatin mixture every couple of minutes just to make sure it doesn’t get lumpy.

Add the melted gelatin and process for a few seconds till incorporated.

Fold in the whipped cream gently, using a balloon whisk/spatula.

Pour over biscuit case and smooth the edges with the filling using a rubber spatula. (This will cover any small gaps in the biscuit case on the sides. Once the cheesecake has set, no one can see the deft patch-work).

Allow to set in the fridge for 2-3 hours until set or firm to touch. What I like to do is zap up the process. I stick it in the freezer for an hour and once the filling has set, I move the cheesecake to the fridge compartment so it is nice and fluffy when you dig in to it.

Decorate the top of the cheesecake the way you like or just cut into wedges and serve. If you have some of the blueberry sauce left, it wouldn’t hurt to pour some of that on your wedge before you dig in.

I made this cheesecake for a potluck party at Amma’s and I shot all the pictures at her place with whatever little time off from the chitty-chat I could manage. I couldn’t carry any props with me except for a sheet for the picture backgrounds, so please excuse the pretty ordinary pictures here. In fact, I had a hard time shooting these pictures thanks to the cute brat at Amma’s place. Her name’s Ginger and she’s a big foodie. She simply loves sweet somethings and the minute I set things up for my photo shoot, she got all curious and came to see what I was upto. She didn’t bother me much till I got out the cheesecake. Once the cake was out, she sat right at my feet, begging me for some. I finally had to barricade myself and the cake with chairs all around, to prevent her from giving the cheesecake a friendly pat from her paws!! There she is, with that signature ‘please give me some?’ look of her’s. Isn’t she adorable? She’s such a cuddly-wuddly-whoo-choo I tell you. I love the darling.

So until next time, adios. I have some rave reviews coming up, so stay tuned!

Not a fan of cheesecakes but I just had to comment–the pics are awesome and so is Ginger.I have two doggies at mom’s place too and I make sure I carry some baked goodies when I go home,should say they are my ardent fans[coz I am sure they won’t say otherwise;)]!!

Hi Madhuri
I am Charishma…love ur space…amazing collection of recipes…me and my family are big fans of cheesecake…we always get our cheese cake from Ice and Spice…they have amazing blueberry cheesecake…I want to try this out…Iam from Bangalore too and would like to know what blueberry crush is and where do you get it in Bangalore?

Read about your blog in the India today supplement that I picked up just yesterday. Have been wanting to learn a totally vegetarian version of a cheesecake. I do make it with Gelatine { the non veg variety.}
Tried making it with the veg gelatine but it never seems to set. Could you please clarify whether the gelatine you are using is Vegetarian one or not. In case we use China grass what is the quantity and procedure. Your feedback will be of great help.

Hi, yummy recipes
Can u please help me out with any place around Jaynagar where I can buy baking supplies like whipping cream for the above recipe and off course blueberry crush too…..please, my daughter wants to bake for Christmas

Hi Latha,
There is no place in Jayanagar where you would find whipping cream. The closest options are Metro Cash & Carry (Kanakapura Road), for which you need a membership card to enter, and Fathima’s on Hosur road, near Vellara Junction. Both these places stock on Rich’s whipping cream which comes in a 2 ltr tetra pack. If you’re willing to go the distance, you can go to General Food Additives in Sheshadripuram. This place has everything you will need with regards to baking and chocolate-making supplies. You can give Mr. Ramachandran my reference (I’m Madhuri). He will be more than happy to help you with your requirement.